Man City and Inter Milan will compete in the Champions League final at 2:00 a.m. on June 11 in Istanbul. History will decide whether Guardiola's team or Inzaghi's team.
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| Guardiola has yet to win a European Cup since leaving Barcelona. (Source: GI) |
Eighteen years after Liverpool staged a classic comeback win over AC Milan in Istanbul, it is interesting to see representatives from English and Italian football present at the Champions League final in Türkiye's most glamorous city.
Man City and Inter Milan come into the match at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium with similar ambitions, albeit different stakes. That is the trophy.
Pep Guardiola's Man City are having a great season as the Manchester team has won two more English championship titles (Premier League, FA Cup) this season.
Guardiola is slowly becoming the best coach in England as his team sweeps every trophy in the last seven years, but the Spaniard has still failed to win a European trophy since leaving Barcelona 10 years ago.
Prior to the 2020-21 season, Guardiola had never taken City beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League and as fans slowly returned to stadiums following the Covid-19-related hiatus, City were left without glory despite reaching the final.
Leaving the Estadio do Dragao in a bitter defeat in 2021, Man City fell victim to giants Real Madrid in the 2021-22 semi-finals. However, the past is behind them and Man City got their revenge in the 2022-23 season, crushing the defending champions to confidently advance to the final for the second time in history.
Man City drew 1-1 in the first leg at Real Madrid, then won the second leg impressively 3-0 at home. Since teaching their La Liga opponents a football lesson, Man City have successfully defended their Premier League title with 89 points to stave off the threat of Arsenal. They then beat Man Utd to win the FA Cup and open the door to a historic treble.
Having scored at least once in each of their last seven Champions League games, City could become only the fourth English team to lift the trophy in the current format of the competition. Only one other nation can boast three Champions League winners, and that is Italy, and tonight they will send a determined representative to stop City, and English football, from doing so.
Inter's attempts to deny Napoli the Serie A title proved futile, but while pre-match talk may have focused on Man City's bid for a domestic and continental treble, a similar run of success awaits Simone Inzaghi's men.
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| Inter Milan also won two titles in the 2022/23 season in Italy. (Source: GI) |
Four months after beating city rivals Milan 3-0 in the 2022-23 Italian Super Cup, Inter had an identical scoreline victory over the Rossoneri in the Champions League semi-finals (although this time they had to play two games instead of one) to return to Europe's grandest stage.
After a 2-0 win in the first leg, which was considered an "away" game at the San Siro, Inter extinguished any faint hopes of a Milan comeback thanks to a second-half strike from Lautaro Martinez in the return leg on May 16, thereby advancing to the 11th European final in the club's illustrious history.
Eight days later, Inter won the Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia double by beating Fiorentina 2–1.
13 seasons since Jose Mourinho led Inter Milan to European glory. That time, the Milanese team won 2-0 against Bayern Munich thanks to a brace from hero Diego Milito in Madrid.
The Argentine's legacy is certainly being carried on by one of his compatriots Martinez, who along with ex-Man City striker Edin Dzeko will form a two-man strike force in the hope of leading the Nerazzurri to a seventh continental title.
Man City are known as a fierce attacking team, but they will face a resilient Inter defence. The Italian side have kept five clean sheets in six head-to-head matches in the Champions League this season, conceding only in the second leg of their quarter-final, a 3-3 draw with Benfica.
A poor run of form at the start of the year prevented Inter from challenging for the Scudetto, but the Nerazzurri head to Istanbul having won 11 of their last 12 games in all competitions and only failed to score in one of their last 17.
Inzaghi's men enter the Champions League final as the fourth team to reach the final after losing their opening game in the competition, after AC Milan in 1994-95, Bayern Munich in 1998-99 and Tottenham in 2018-19. However, all three finished runners-up and Inter could join that list unless they can find a way to make it up to Man City in Europe.
Expected lineup
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji; Stones, Rodri; Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.
Inter Milan: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Calhanoglu, Dimarco; Martinez, Dzeko.
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